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Friday, November 04, 2011

Philanthropy, defined as “the effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations,” is generally associated with the wealthy, but one doesn’t have to be wealthy to give away some of their money, time or resources.

It could mean donating an umbrella to a homeless person or $10 for a pair of children’s shoes or recognizing a person in need and helping them plug into services.

But for those of us who care about linking rigor to innovation and impact (especially impact assessment), making them more operational, and integrating them more systematically into nonprofit/philanthropic practice, it’s hard to find serious discussion that is more about practice and less about how savvy some of the folks who opine about these concepts want to appear.

These "virtual field trips" have been available, for example, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Sid Richardson Museum, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas for several years.

Warren Hellman – bluegrass philanthropist funds annual festival: Hellman – one of the wealthiest citizens of San Francisco – is widely known as a philanthropist and financier. He is the great-grandson of Isaias W. Hellman, a prominent Banker and philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California.

For the past 11 years, as part of his philanthropic agenda, Warren Hellman has held this free music festival – Hardly, Strictly Bluegrass.

At the end of April I reported on a new forecasting service, The Atlas of Giving.

I called it an important innovation because fundraisers have largely sought guidance through the rear view mirror of past performance, as opposed to steering through the windshield of the present and future. After all, ‘til the Atlas of Giving came along, all we had to rely on were ‘old’ services like Giving USA and the various Blackbaud Charitable Indexes.

Family Dollar Founder Takes Hands-On Approach to Giving - NYTimes.com: Leon’s gone after philanthropy in much the same way as he did making money,” said Hugh L. McColl Jr., former chief executive of Bank of America, which is based in Charlotte. “He sees donations as investments in worthwhile projects, he does a lot of due diligence when looking at potential recipients, and he’s diligent about holding their feet to the fire about doing what the money is supposed to do.”

No, it's not that time again. But there is a cable station launching today in Pittsburgh, Penn., where it's that time all the time. Yeah, you heard it right: A public television station that reruns nothing but pledge drives -- all day long.

Tess Finkle: Cause ... It Matters: This transition within the corporate giving structure is being expedited by the up rise of the Millennial Generation -- young people/consumers who demand more responsibility from "the man." Which is awesome.

So, my team and I spend our days helping brands recognize they need to support causes their customers advocate in a way that is genuine and effective do just that, but also making sure their needs as a business are met. Additionally, we identify a clear call to action that helps the cause partner reach its goals within this alliance. More times than not, part of my company's role in addition to partnering and strategizing is to procure celebrities to engage on some level of the campaign to attract media and mobilize the masses.

massnonprofit.org ::: The report, commissioned by Boston-based New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), noted that the creative sector has a major impact on the larger economy and is “a steady, reliable industry, less subject to the cyclical ups and downs of the overall economy than the average New England business.”

Philanthropy's Shift Toward Entrepreneurism | Fast Company: Undoubtedly the answer is that we need all three. The question is in what proportion should these be balanced? For the better part of the 20th century, philanthropists were not inclined to think too much about it. If you were a wealthy American, you paid your taxes and you wrote checks to charities. You let others figure out how best to spend your money.

That has changed dramatically. The shift is toward more direct involvement in philanthropic work. In a word, philanthropy has become entrepreneurial. As tax burdens likely increase on America's wealthy, that trend will continue to grow.

In the case of the “askDeborah podcast,” the narrative began even before the recording sessions. After the CTK team and I had compiled a list of frequently asked nonprofit technology questions, I started emailing and calling some of my favorite colleagues. I'd explain, “It's sort of like Car Talk, except that I'm not two Italian-American brothers. But real nonprofit professionals will submit real questions about their technology challenges. The running joke is that I never know the answer, but that I know whom to call, and in this case it's you. We'll discuss the question, and we'll have

Fundraiser Collects $140,000 for Pakistan Flood Victims - Milpitas, CA Patch: Most recently, Shea has focused his efforts on helping victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan. On Saturday, Oct. 29, Shea was the guest speaker at "Us Now 2011," a fundraising dinner at the Computer History Museum coordinated by South Asian Relief and sponsored by numerous non-profits, like UNICEF and Islamic Relief. The fundraiser aimed to look beyond political barriers, reach out to victims and successfully raised $140,000.

According to UNICEF, the floods affect 8.1 million people including 2.7 million children. A total of 1.8 million people have been displaced, 2 million are sick, and 1.5 million homes have been destroyed.

"Birdies for Charity" Celebrates Record-Breaking Year - WQAD: On Monday, October 31, 2011, representatives from nearly 500 charities gathered in the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Ill. to find out how much the "Birdies for Charity" Program raised this year. The total is a record-breaking one -- $5.28 million.

"Birdies for Charity" starts even before the John Deere Classic does. People begin pledging and trying to guess the total number of birdies golfers will get by the time the tournament is over. 2011 was even better than 2010 - there were 2,160 birdies.

Aaron Hurst: How Prudential Broke the Gala Addiction: What was the problem with galas?Most galas cost $1.33 to raise a dollar. They are not really generating sufficient ROI in both of their goal areas - connecting people with their mission and raising money -- to justify the cost. And most organizations don't include the calculation of staff time and most certainly don't quantify the volunteer hours of gathering auction items or anything else that goes into making a successful event. So the real costs, based on having sat in on many gala planning committees, is probably a couple multiples of that dollar thirty three to every dollar

Acronym: Would your annual report ever sound like this?: The nature of the report isn't exactly parallel to an association annual report, but I couldn't help but compare them. The truth, though, is they don't really compare at all. The association annual reports I've seen have typically been positive, light on genuine analysis, and rather dull. Anything but brutally frank.

This disparity could be a byproduct of vague missions and goals. Clearly, eradicating polio is a "big, hairy audacious goal." Bigger goal equals more room for failure, which an honest report will identify. But a vague goal, like "advancing the industry," means there's more room to be just as vague in assessing results.

Samford itself is non-profit; therefore, gifts from alumni greatly impact tuition. Gifts make up 30 percent of the tuition ratio, and consist of contributions made through endowments, wills and the Samford Phonathon.

Zombie flash mob raises hundreds for charity - Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News: At exactly 9 a.m., Simpson donned the iconic red leather jacket and led about 20 area residents of all ages - all decked out in zombie attire - in the epic choreography, while amused shoppers stood by and watched. The event was part of "Thrill the World," an annual global flash mob event that this year featured 227 groups in England and across the U.S. simultaneously busting out to the dance.

The purpose of the worldwide event is to raise money for local or not-for-profit charities, which in this case, was the American Cancer Society.

The dance number raised $634, which Cumberland Farms will match, bringing the total up to almost $1,270.

Scaring Up Revenue For Halloween - TheNonProfitTimes: While many of the nation’s charities eagerly anticipate the holiday season as their peak time for fundraising, Halloween is prime time for some nonprofits. For Goodwill Industries International, Halloween has become a welcome opportunity to sell more merchandise and raise more money.

“Traditionally, October is our highest retail month,” said Charlene Sarmiento, a spokeswoman at the Rockville, Md., headquarters. “People are always looking for affordable costumes and we’re happy to give them that opportunity. In addition to people looking for costumes, we also get plenty of Halloween decorations and costumes.”